Napalm Death's Mitch Harris on indefinite hiatus

Veteran guitarist takes a break from band due to family illness

Napalm Death guitarist Mitch Harris will take a break from the band due to a family illness, they’ve confirmed.

The UK outfit recently announced a North American jaunt with VoiVod, Exhumed, Iron Reagan, Black Crown Initiate, Ringworm, Dayglo Abortions, Theories and Phobia. The 31-date tour kicks off on January 27 in Miami. They’ll still play the live shows and will recruit touring musicians to stand in for Harris. They say his departure isn’t permanent.

They say in a statement: “Due to illness within his family, we would like to announce that Mitch Harris will unfortunately not be performing with us for the near future. We stress that this is not a permanent arrangement, although we are unsure exactly when Mitch will return under the circumstances.

“Naturally, we sympathise and wish Mitch all the best. In the meantime, we will be joined by guitarists who we know can grind it out in his absence.”

He said: “Sometimes you have to ponder long and hard for an album title. But following the Rana Plaza disaster of last year – the collapse of a textile sweatshop building in Bangladesh – it spurred me on to try and craft an expose of slave labour in the modern world, and the surrounding conditions propping it up.”